Baby latched on to my breast 3x without the nipple shield.

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting on this forum so I'm hoping I can really stick here. My baby was born premature. He is 1 month and a half, 3 days adjusted. I recently switched from giving him bm in bottle to breastfeeding him using a nipple shield and I'm only pumping twice a day when I feel engorged which is in the morning and in the night. On December 11 I was feeding him using a nipple shield and I decided to remove it and offer him my bare nipple just to see if he would take it. To my surprise he actually latched on! He stayed on for a cool while. I thought this was it maybe from now on he doesn't need the nipple shield anymore. I was wrong :/ the next feeding he didn't want to latch on to my nipple without the nipple shield. Then later on in the day I offered my nipple again w/ out the shield and he took it again. This went on one more time after that. Is this a good sign? What should I do now? He does struggle getting a hold of my nipple when he did it 3 times but once he got a hold of it he stayed sucking. Although, the first time he latched without the nipple shield after a while he let go and I tried to get him back he became so fussy and started crying like crazy so I quickly put the shield back in and he stayed calm after that. I don't know if i should be happy or sad about this. Will he eventually take my breast w/ out the shield? What can I do to help him make that transition once in for all? Should I offer him my nipple every feeding?

Re: Baby latched on to my breast 3x without the nipple shiel

Welcome to the forum!

Weaning from the shield is something that often takes a lot of time and patience. Keep offering the bare breast, particularly when the baby is relaxed and sleepy- he may be less persnickety at those times. This link has more tips for weaning from the shield: http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/wean-shield/

Re: Baby latched on to my breast 3x without the nipple shiel

Is this a good sign?

Yes! This is the age my oldest finally began to make progress weaning off the sheild I had used since almost the beginning. It took time and some fits and starts and one side came about 2 weeks before the other. Be patient and also persistent is my suggestion, there is no specific single way to do this its quite individual. It sounds like you are doing well. Are you still pumping? and is baby getting any bottles or is feeding all at the breast (with sheilds is still nursing at the breast)?